Zone Blitz: NFL Week 2 Preview

Music to listen to:  Legendary by Royce da 5’9’’

Week one was a disappointing week in my prognostications but the opening games are always the toughest to gauge for the future activities of a team.  The prime example last week was the New York Jets whose offense looked below average during the entire preseason but in the season opener against Buffalo, Mark Sanchez looked like Joe Montana for one contest.  I don’t expect that to continue the rest of the season because I don’t think the Jets will be that good or the Bills to be that bad but I picked Buffalo to finish ahead of New York in my preseason predictions and that must now be re-evaluated.  On to the picks (home team in CAPS):

 

-I had Green Bay with the points last night at home against Chicago.  I had a feeling that Jay Cutler was due for a bad game on the road and while all of the offensive woes for Chicago weren’t his fault, there were some underthrown and inaccurate balls that didn’t help the Bears’ cause.  My pick of Clay Matthews being the Defensive Player of the Year at the end of the season is looking nice so far.  Never bet against a man who is an elite player who had a below average season the previous year by his standards and is coming into a contract year.

 

NY GIANTS (-7) Tampa:  I didn’t even pick the Giants to make the playoffs so their struggles against Dallas last week wasn’t surprising, especially when you consider the injuries to the Giants’ secondary coming into the contest.  However, the Giants’ lack of run blocking was alarming along with the drops from the receiving group, especially Victor Cruz.  I think those things can be improved on enough to beat a Tampa team that surely has confidence after a nice divisional win at home against Carolina.

 

NEW ENGLAND (-13.5) Arizona:  The Cardinals had a good home win last week against Seattle and maligned quarterback Kevin Kolb coming in to save the day surely gives him confidence coming into this contest.  However, the Patriots looked nasty against Tennessee, especially the defense which looked like the infusion of younger players was appreciated.  I just don’t see who is going to cover the tight ends for New England.  Furthermore, expect to see a solid game from Wes Welker who had an underwhelming performance against the Titans.

 

INDIANAPOLIS (+1.5) Minnesota:  The Colts ran into a motivated Chicago team last week on the road and should get healthy against the Vikings, who needed overtime to beat Jacksonville at home.  Andrew Luck will show improvement from the last game and get the first victory of the season for the Colts.

 

CAROLINA (+2.5) New Orleans:  Cam Newton struggled at Tampa last week and people are already starting to throw out the “sophomore slump” theory about him.  He’s still an excellent quarterback who is making steps towards the elite category.  A healthy home win against New Orleans will help.  On the opposite end, people are ready to bury the Saints season as lost after losing to Washington at home.  As long as Drew Brees is taking snaps at quarterback for New Orleans, that team isn’t going anywhere.  However, I did pick the Panthers to make the playoffs and the Saints to miss the postseason so I know that the defensive woes of New Orleans may do them in this year.

 

BUFFALO (-3) Kansas City:  The Bills defense has to be better than this…right?

 

Baltimore (+2.5) PHILADELPHIA:  I like the Eagles to win the NFC East and possibly make a run in the playoffs.  However, I don’t understand how they can be favored against the Ravens who looked like the best team in the NFL after an outstanding win against a solid team like Cincinnati.  Philadelphia struggled at Cleveland in its last contest due to turnovers and the Ravens consistently have one of the best turnover ratios in the NFL.  Furthermore, just like Clay Matthews, Joe Flacco is in a contract year along with Ray Rice being in his prime make the Ravens offense one of the best in the NFL.

 

MIAMI (+2.5) Oakland:  This is a coin flip so I’ll take the home team to beat the squad traveling across the country playing in the early game time slot.

 

CINCINNATI (-7) Cleveland:  I have no confidence in the Browns’ offense and the team’s best player, Joe Haden, just started his four-game suspension.  Heading to the Queen City won’t help the cause at all.  AJ Green may go for 150 yards receiving for the Bengals.

 

Houston (-7) JACKSONVILLE:  The Texans have the benefit of playing in an inferior division, which will pad the record and potentially make them gain home-field advantage throughout the entire playoffs.  Getting a decisive road win against a division foe will help the cause greatly.

 

SEATTLE (+3) Dallas:  I’ve bought into Russell Wilson so I feel obliged to take the Seahawks.  Furthermore, the Cowboys have had to hear about how great they are for the entire week and now must travel across the country to one of the toughest road environments in the NFL and face a potential top-five defense.

 

ST. LOUIS (+3) Washington:  Robert Griffin will be the best player to come out of the 2012 draft class when everything is settled.  However, I’m leery to pick him to win a second-consecutive road game to start his NFL career.  The Rams aren’t a good team but the defense isn’t terrible.  The Redskins are the better squad on paper and should win this contest by double-digits.  However, strange things happen and I’m taking the Rams in the upset of the week.

 

PITTSBURGH (-5) NY Jets:  The Pittsburgh defense can make this an ugly contest for the Jets offense quickly.

 

SAN DIEGO (-6) Tennessee:  Where have you gone, Chris Johnson?

 

SAN FRANCISCO (-7) Detroit:  The Lions are fun to watch and I actually enjoy their aggression on both sides of the ball, especially defense.  However, the 49ers are playing at another level right now and can actually get stops on defense and should handle the Lions easily.

 

ATLANTA (-3) Denver:  Watching Champ Bailey against Julio Jones will be worth the price of admission but expect a big game from the relatively “forgotten” receiver for the Falcons, Roddy White, to have a big contest for Atlanta.  The Falcons are a significantly better home team and having Peyton Manning make his adjustments with new offensive pieces in a dome stadium in the second game of the season may be too much to overcome as the Falcons secure a four-point victory.

 

Last week:  6-10

Season:  6-10

 

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?